Hermione's Web
by LynstHolin
Summary: Conducting a secret romance with Draco, Hermione must lie, lie, lie. Adventures, misadventures, and lots of kissing. SUPER-FLUFFY This is a sequel to my 'Hermione Falling,'one-shot  but it stands on its own, too. Mildly AU-slightly different timeline.
1. Chapter 1

Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger

No warnings-fluffiness and kissing and unicorns ahead

This goes a bit AU with the school-year time-line-the OWLs are more like the assessment tests one takes during the school-year than finals. I had to do this to be able to make it work as a sequel to 'Hermione Falling'.

...

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive"

-Sir Walter Scott

...

Draco pointed at his badge." I am a member of the Inquisitorial Squad. I don't need to justify my actions to the likes of you." Ron and Harry tried argue, but Crabbe and Goyle had their faces squashed up up against the wall and their wand arms twisted behind their backs. "I need to interrogate Granger."

Draco had Hermione by the arm. He dragged her into Umbridge's office. "Unhand me, you brute!" she shouted. The second the door was closed, their lips met. Hermione melted against him. "So long," she sighed.

"I know," Draco whispered, "they just won't leave us alone, will they." He gave her a wry look. "Unhand me, you brute?"

"Was that a bit much?"

"Well, I know for a fact that you want me to hand you." He stroked her back slowly and softly.

Hermione looked at the kittens on the decorative plates that lined the walls of the office. One of them hissed and ran out of frame. "I don't think we're safe even here."

Draco held her so close, they could feel each breath the other took. "Hermione, Hermione, Hermione." The way he said her name, it was like a caress.

Hermione put her arms around his neck and kissed him desperately until she heard the door start to open. They jumped apart, putting a couple of meters between each other.

"What have we here?" Umbridge trilled perkily.

"I, uh, heard rumors that Dumbledore's Army was meeting again, so gave her some Veritaserum. She doesn't know anything."

Umbridge's bloated, toady face looked dubious. "Did she have enough?"

"Yes. It just turns out that Potter doesn't trust her all that much," he said with a sneer.

Umbridge smiled smugly. "How sad. Miss Granger, dear, you know that men will always look down on you because you're female, right?" Delores made a theatrically mournful sound. "Harry Potter will never confide in you the way he does with other boys. Women like us, we need to stick together."

"Uh, I know." Hermione kept her eyes averted, knowing they would give away her longing for the tall blond boy who was so close... so close...

"Run along, dear." Umbridge flapped a hand at Hermione. "I have things to do. We'll have some girl talk later."

Hermione flicked a glance at Draco as she left the office. He was staring at her the way a hungry man looked at a steak. It gave her a funny feeling in her lower stomach.

Harry and Ron were just outside. "I heard Malfoy mention giving you Veritaserum! What did they make you tell them?" Harry asked.

Uh oh. It was time to lie. Hermione was never good at coming up with stories on the spur of the moment. The one she'd come up with about the troll in second year had been a fluke. "Nothing. I, uh, had some of the antidote."

"There's an antidote?" Ron asked angrily. "Why didn't you share it with us? How long have you had it?"

"There was only a little bit. I was just experimenting. It's quite tricky to make. I was lucky it actually worked. It could have turned me into a giant earwig."

"Well, I think you should make more. Just think if we'd had some earlier. If we could give everyone in the D.A. some to carry around just in case..." Harry said.

"Yeah." Ron glared. "Don't keep it all to yourself."

Hermione chewed on her fingernails as she watched her two friends walk away. Was there even an antidote for Veritaserum? _Blast._

_...  
><em>

Hermione was gritty with library dust. Her fingers were sore from flipping pages. Madame Pince was giving her the gimlet eye, worried that she would nap on the books again. There were some hints about an antidote, but nothing that would help her actually brew it. Unicorn hair... moonlight... stirred by the hand of a virgin...

The last was certainly not a problem. Her relationship with Draco consisted of stolen glances, self-immolating notes, staged arguments, and perhaps a grand total of fifteen minutes of snogging. The way things were going, Hermione wouldn't have a chance to lose her virtue until her mid-fifties. Which would make her parents happy, probably.

She was about to close the book she was perusing when something caught her eye. "The first successful antidote to Veritaserum was made by the infamously mad witch Agnetha Corvus. The exact formula has mostly been suppressed by the Ministry for Magic, but it is known that the main ingredients are-" The rest of the sentence was blacked out. Hermione growled, earning a frown from the librarian.

Ron and Harry blocked her reading light. "What are you doing here instead of making more... _you know_," Ron asked.

"I don't have all the ingredients, yet. I need more unicorn hair. And now that Hagrid's gone..."

"This is important. We have to go into the Forbidden Forest to find some. Come on." Hermione was hauled unwillingly out of her chair and dragged from the library.

...

It was stuffy under the invisibility cloak, and Ron seemed to be bumping into her far more than was necessary. As they approached one of Hogwart's secret exits, Draco passed them. He paused, sniffing. "Hermione?" he called softly.

Ron and Harry froze. Hermione was about to 'accidentally' throw off the cloak, but Umbridge approached from the other direction, looking even more squat than usual in ruffled robes that were the most hideous shade of pink imaginable. "Any sign of that secret passage, dearie?" Dolores chirped.

Draco was glancing all around the corridor, looking confused. "No, I haven't seen a thing."

Umbridge patted him on the shoulder. "Well, come on, then. It's time for the Inquisitorial Squad meeting. Very important. Filch has some good ideas for conducting interrogations. Something about chains and buckets of water." She trotted off, robes billowing like a ship's sails. Draco had no choice but to follow.

"Did Malfoy _smell_ you, 'Mione?"

"He probably recognized my shampoo. He likes to get close when he interrogates me."

"Hmph. I'll _bet_," Ron huffed. Hermione bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from snickering.

...

It was full dark when Hermione spotted a glimmer of whitest white through the trees. "I think that might be one," she breathed. "Leave me. You two are far too... testosterone-y." The boys retreated.

She moved slowly through the forest, speaking softly all the while. "I'm so sorry to bother you. It's just a small, silly request from a small, silly girl. Just a few hairs. I've gotten myself into a bit of a situation here."

When she saw the size of the unicorn, she gasped. It was a stallion, both formidable and gracile, with a silky, curly beard under its chin that matched its mane. He gazed at her with crystalline blue eyes. Her knees trembled, but she took small steps toward him.

"It's because I fell in love, you see." The unicorn pricked up his ears. "We have to hide our relationship. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at lying. A few little lies here and there, and now I'm in the middle of the Forbidden Forest at night, begging one of Creation's most mystical creatures for some of his mane hairs."

The unicorn tossed its magnificent head and walked away, golden hooves flashing in the moonlight. Hermione groaned in disappointment and turned to go. A full-throated whinny stopped her. She saw them: about ten long, perfectly white hairs waving from the trunk of a tree. The unicorn had brushed against the tree when it had walked away. She plucked each hair carefully, tucking them into an envelope.

"Thank you," she called, but she could no longer see any sign of the unicorn.


	2. Chapter 2

No warnings-fluffy!

Hermione was sitting on a stone bench near the lake. It was a lovely spring day. First years frolicked like lambs, the giant squid was basking on top of the water, and girls were exposing as much skin as they could get away with, trying to tan away their winter pallor. A tiny origami swan winged her way. She caught it and unfolded it.

A drawing of a stickman struggling in a spider's web. "_I am caught in your web. D_"

She pulled out some scrap parchment and her Muggle ball-point pen.

"_You're comparing me to a spider? Very romantic! H_" A drawing of a laughing face.

She folded it into an airplane shape and tapped it with her wand. It zoomed away.

"_Would you rather I write a poem? D_"

"_Only if you swear it will be better than 'Weasley is Our King'. H_"

"_Do you want to know how I know my parents are wrong? D_"

"_Yes. H_"

"_Because they're the unhappiest people I know. They never laugh and they hardly ever smile. D_"

"_Please don't end up like them. H_"

"_I won't because I have you. D_"

A drawing of a dancing heart. "_H_"

"_Do you know who I think are probably the happiest people in the world? D_"

"_Who? H_"

"_The Weasleys. D_" A crowd of stick people with ginger hair, jostling and bumping into each other.

Hermione giggled at the note. "Who's that from?" Ron made a grab for it, but it burst into flames and turned to ash just as his fingers touched it.

She watched Ron put his singed fingers in his mouth. It served him right. "Is that really any of your business, Ron?"

"Some bloke's sending love letters to one of my best friends, who happens to be a girl. Of course it's my business."

"If Harry was getting notes from a girl, would that bother you, too?"

"No, but that's different."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sexist."

"Girls can get pregnant. Boys can't."

"Thanks for explaining that. All this time, I thought it was the other way 'round."

"So, come on, who was the note from?"

Hermione smiled like the Sphinx. "Secret admirer." Ron began scanning the students around them suspiciously. Hermione slapped him on the back of the head. "Idiot."

"Ow! You hit harder than my mother!"

"You need a girlfriend. Someone to keep you in line."

"They're not exactly queuing up for me, now, are they."

"Ron, there's someone for everyone. Even a complete idiot like you." Ron grinned.

Another swan came flying toward Hermione. She had her wand out in a trice, using a mild shocking hex on Ron when he tried to grab the note. He squawked and fell on his bottom. Hermione reached into her robes and tucked the note safely away in her bra, smiling triumphantly.

"Bloody hell, Hermione. Have you been learning hexes from Ginny?"

...

When she found some privacy in the library, Hermione opened the note.

A stick couple kissed, one with sleek blond hair and the other with bushy brown hair. "_Do this soon? D_"

"_I hope so. H_."

Tapping her pen against her teeth, Hermione thought a moment, then wrote another note.

"_You're good at potions. Do you know how to make the antidote for Veritaserum? H_"

"_Sorry, no. Why, what have you got planned? D_" A drawing of a face wiggling its eyebrows.

"_Too complicated to explain in a note. Long story short, I'm a terrible liar. H_"

A drawing of a stick person rolling on the ground laughing. Hermione could swear the laughter was slightly audible. "_You, a bad liar? You're good enough at it to be a Slytherin. D_"

"_Really? H_"

"_Really. I love you, LIAR. D_"

Hermione was shaken and elated at the same time. It was her first 'I love you' from Draco, which gave her a bubbly feeling in her stomach and made the corners of her mouth lift. But it was rather disquieting to find out that the way she saw herself could differ so much from how others percieved her. She'd always thought of herself as a very honest person.

Then again, the way things were going in the world, with the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters, maybe a talent for deception was a good thing.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter is really short. It just seemed to me that it should stand alone. No warnings.

...

There was one note that Hermione stopped from bursting into flames. She kept it folded up in a pair of ugly snot-green wool socks at the bottom of her trunk. It was longer than most of the others.

_Even before you (literally) fell into my arms, I was having doubts. About my family, about my life, about myself. How can following someone who does nothing but spread pain and misery be the right thing to do? There have been DEs visiting my parents for as long as I can remember, and they aren't people you would ever want to be. The only thing they truly enjoy is seeing others suffer. Real happiness was something I'd only ever seen from the outside. Being cruel, making people fear me, it's what I learned from my parents and the people they are close to. But more and more, it makes me feel sick inside. I've seen there can be more to life, and I want it._

_But I'm so afraid sometimes. My parents are wrong, but they're still my family. And I'm not really sure who I am, who I will be when I stop acting like a copy of my father. I'm starting all over, like a baby. I have no right to ask you to help me, not after the awful way I've treated you over the years. _

_Things I do know:_

_1) You're beautiful_

_2) You agree with me that the Weird Sisters are completely over-rated, and that Sunwise is the best wizard band, when most girls like WS better just because they think they're cute _(drawing of barfing stick person)

_3) We like each others' sense of humor_

_4) There is nothing better than kissing you_

_5) C and G are really, really annoying, but at least they mind their own business and don't try to read my notes_

_6) It's okay if YOU make ferret jokes_

_7) Thank you for lending me that book-I had no idea I would like a story about a toad, a mole, and a rat so much-Father would look like this _(drawing of fanged, roaring face) _if he knew I was reading Muggle literature_

_8) You are a really good actress-it's amazing how you got everyone to ignore that we were holding hands the entire time we were 'arguing' in potions class_

_9) You smell good_

_D_


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione was putting some books back in the library stacks when she saw the corner of a slim volume sticking out from behind a shelf at floor level. She tugged it out. It was covered in green suede with the title in gold gilt letters: 'Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know: Five Fatal Witches.' Also in gilt was a ghastly illustration of a Medusa-haired woman with wild eyes. Flipping to the table of contents, Hermione saw the name Agnetha Corvus. Her small whoop of delight earned her a glare from Madame Pince. She settled down onto a chair and read avidly.

Agnetha Corvus lived in the fourteenth century, and was known for both her bold innovations in potion-making and her refusal to bathe or even comb her hair. She was able to accomplish more than most any other witch that ever lived because she never had a man in her life to distract her. _Because she stank_, Hermione thought.

Among Corvus' inventions was a completely tasteless and invisible poison that killed instantly. The book refused to provide any details about that one. It was just as well; Hermione would probably be too tempted to use it on Parkinson the next time she saw the brunette hanging shamelessly all over Draco. Hermione allowed herself a few minutes to daydream. Shrinking Parkinson down to the size of a fly and throwing her in a spider web. Tricking Parkinson into wandering into the part of the Forbidden Forest where the Acromantulas dwell. Locking her in a room with a blast-ended skrewt. Or just seeing the look on her pug-like face as Hermione and Draco kissed in front of her. _Mmm... kissing Draco_. _His arms around me, my fingers in his hair, his heart beating against my chest and-_

Madame Pince rapped the back of her chair. "The library is for reading, not for sitting there staring at nothing with a stupid grin on your face."

_Blast. Just as I was getting to the really good part_. Hermione sighed and started reading again. She came to a passage that made her sit straight up in her chair: "Perhaps Corvus' most valuable contribution to the art of potion-making was her discovery of a myriad of uses for peryton feathers; the most well-known use is in the antidote for Veritaserum."

_Peryton, Peryton_... Hermione opened up a volume of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' The peryton chapter was very short, with an illustration of a stag with wings on its back and feathers on its hindquarters. "It is widely believed that this creature caused the fall of the Roman Empire. The peryton's relationship with human beings is not exactly antagonistic, but not exactly friendly, either. The peryton's shadow is in the shape of a man's. Though very difficult to subdue by magical means, the beast can be approached with caution and finesse. In Great Britain, they can be found in several forested areas, including the Forbidden Forest."

_The Forbidden Forest. Why is it always the Forbidden Forest? Why can't I be looking for a creature that dwells at Honeyduke's?_

...

"Professor Grubbly-Plank?"

"Yes, dear?" The elderly woman was smoking her pipe outside with obvious pleasure.

"Are there still perytons in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Oh, my, yes!" Grubbly-Plank got a delighted smile on her face. "One of my favorite creatures! It's a shame most students have no interest in them. You could go visit them, if you like. I went to see them all the time when I was your age. You don't even actually have to go into the Forest, really." She took out her wand and started drawing a sparkly blue map in the air. "Now, here's Hogwarts, here's the lake, and that is the Forest. Skirt around this way. It's a bit of a hike, but well worth it. Right here, there's a stream the perytons like to drink out of. Sit by the bank next to the boulder that's carved to look like a troll, sing a song, and you'll see one in no time. Just mind your manners, and you'll be fine."

It took a moment for Hermione to recover enough to thank the professor. She couldn't believe it had been that easy. She tried to hush the little voice in her head that said it was _too_ easy.


	5. Chapter 5

No warnings whatsoever-fluffy fluffy fluffy.

...

Hermione's note to Draco:

_So it's official-tomorrow is our first real date. _A smiling face. _We'll have a picnic (I'll provide)and hopefully see a peryton. And I'll explain why I need to see a peryton. You're going to think I'm an idiot._

_I'm glad you liked 'The Hobbit'-that's one of my favorite books. If you had hated it, I would have had to break up with you._ A laughing face. _I'm joking... sort of. Gollum is like V. Or V. is like Gollum. Eternal life, the ring... living a horrible half-llfe as a disfigured __thing__-very similar, don't you think? You have to read 'The Lord of the Rings' next. It's not as fun as 'The Hobbit,' but it says a lot that applies to what is going on in our world right now. Muggles think it's just fantasy. They're lucky to be able to think so. _

_I'm getting so serious. _A silly face. _Alright, read 'The Lord of the Rings' because it's really funny if you imagine Frodo and Samwise as Harry and Ron. And I, obviously, am Eowyn. Ha ha! Just read the books already._

_That was a nice touch, making your notes shock anyone that tries to intercept them. Ron has blisters on his fingers. You'd think he'd learn. (You need to teach me how to do that!)_

_I found the Teddy bear. It was behind the mermaid statue in the girls' third floor bath, just like you said in the note. You have to tell me how you got it there, PERVERT! I'm going to hug it when I go to sleep and wish it was you._

_Things I know:_

_1) Like John Lennon said (I'll tell you who he is later-my parents LOVE him), Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans._

_2) Your hair is the softest thing I've ever touched._

_3) Of course we both love Sunwise, they are the best wizard band EVER! And the song 'Son of the Morning Star' always makes me think of you. 'Son of the darkest light, son of the coming night/ Son of a father who dares, to bring all the world to despair/ Your beauty blinds...'_

_4) I love you, I love you, I love you._

_5) I can't wait until tomorrow._

_6) Did I say I love you already?_


	6. Chapter 6

Heart a-thumping, Hermione waited not far from the front gates of Hogwarts. She carried a basket filled with apples, cheese, jam, and bread. Brief stolen moments and heartfelt, funny notes... that's all she'd had with Draco so far. Spending hours with him was something completely new. What if he thought she was boring? What if he thought she she wasn't pretty enough? What if-

A pair of arms seized her from behind. She squeaked as they wound around her waist, and lips nuzzled at the nape of her neck. "That had better be _you_."

"I'm fairly sure it's me. Thought I suppose I could be someone else."

Hermione turned in Draco's arms and met his lips with her own. "Mmm. Tastes like you." Apples. He always tasted of apples. She opened her eyes and screamed.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Draco used his wand to make the giant, green, oozing pustules disappear from his face. "That's what I did to get into the hospital wing. Very convincing, right?"

"A little _too_."

"So. Tell me. Why do we need to see Perytons?" Draco smiled down at her, his gray eyes luminous in the sunshine.

"Come on. We need to walk along the wall here. According to Grubbly-Plank, it will take us along the edge of the forest, but keep us away from the dangerous parts." Hermione took one of his hands and led him into the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Draco chivalrously took the picnic basket from her and carried it. Hermione told him the story so far of her quest for an antidote for Veritaserum.

Draco laughed at her tale. "See, I told you you're a good liar. Your friends completely believe that you're going to make that antidote."

"But that's exactly the problem. They expect it. And I haven't got the actual recipe yet."

"You're clever. You'll figure it out."

"I hope so. Oh, do let's talk about something else for a while."

Draco revealed to her what Slytherins did in their common room in their free time. They played board games, mostly. Wizard chess, a magical variation of Snakes and Ladders that sounded rather painful, Mah Jong, and an excruciatingly dull trivia game that taught them wizarding history.

"Really? That's what Slytherins do?" Hermione laughed.

"What were you expecting?"

"Evil plots. Debauchery. Degeneracy. _Anything_ but Snakes and Ladders. Having real snakes involved doesn't make it sound any better."

"What do Gryffindors do, then?"

"Talk about Quidditch, mostly. Sometimes, I wish I was in Ravenclaw."

"You don't ever want to be Slytherin?" Draco's tone was teasing.

"I'm a-a Mudblood, remember?"

Draco stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I was just repeating things my father said. If I could erase what I said, I would." He pulled her to him again, kissing her until she could barely breathe. She ran her hands across his back and along his shoulders. Oh, Merlin, she couldn't believe how right it felt. Then she was distracted by a sound-

"Is that a stream?"

Draco let go of her and wandered on ahead, trailing his hand along the wall that surrounded Hogwarts. "Yes."

Hermione joined him. The stream came through a small opening in the wall. The statue Grubbly-Plank had described was there, an ugly, lumpy troll carved from a boulder. Draco and Hermione gave each other significant looks, both remembering the scene from 'The Hobbit' when the trolls were turned to stone.

"Perhaps he'd come back to life with some mandrake root," Hermione said.

"I think he'd be a bit nasty once he realized that most of his nose had chipped off."

"Let's eat. Then we'll see if we can get a Peryton to come by."

They fed each othe chunks of apple and bits of bread with jam, and then they laid down on the grass to kiss some more.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" Crabbe and Goyle stared down at them, looking mightily confused.


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione grabbed at her throat, making choking and gasping noises. Draco stared down at her in alarm, so she gave him a spastic wink. He nodded once and cried out, "Breathe, Granger, breathe!" His put his mouth back on hers and blew. When he pulled away again, Hermione took in a loud, whooping breath.

"You-you saved my life, Malfoy. Even though I'm just a lowly Muggle-born, you gave me the kiss of life!"

"I am a prefect! I cannot let a student die on my watch!"

Crabbe and Goyle watched this bit of melodrama with open mouths. "What happened, Malfoy?" Crabbe asked.

"She ate a Nocte Eternum mushroom. If I had found her just a few seconds later, she would be dead." Draco stood up and puffed his chest out, pontificating in his most pretentiously Malfoyesque manner.

"But why would she eat something like that?" asked Goyle.

"What does a Nocte Eternum mushroom look like?"

The two hulking boys looked at each other and shrugged. "You know we're no good at Herbology, Malfoy."

"It's almost identical to the Fidelis Amator mushroom. A silly girl like Miss Granger would eat one to receive a vision of the man she will marry."

Goyle hur-hur-hurred. "Girls are stupid." Hermione turned a laugh into a cough. _She_ knew enough Herbology to know that no such mushrooms existed.

A raggedly-furred head poked out of Crabbe's robes. "Why is Mrs. Norris with you? And why are you here, anyway?" Draco asked.

"We couldn't find you. We were worried, with you being sick and all. Filch lent us Mrs. Norris to help find you. Cats are as good at smelling things as dogs, you know."

Hermione put her head in her hands. Seriously? _Seriously_? There was something unnatural about that cat.

"Look." Draco pointed at his face. "No more oozing green pustules. I'm fine. You two can run along now."

"But you know Umbridge likes us to work as a team. What if Granger tries something?"

Hermione suppressed a sigh. There were lots of things she'd like to try with Draco, if these two slabs of beef would just _go away_.

Crabbe made a discovery. "Ooh, a picnic basket!" He pulled out a wedge of cheddar cheese and stuffed it in his mouth. Hermione and Draco exchanged rueful looks. Their date was hopelessly ruined now. Crabbe and Goyle gobbled down everything. Hermione was surprised they didn't eat the basket, too. "Now, we're going to take Granger to see Umbridge now, yeah?"

"Yeah!" said Goyle, "you wouldn't be out here with her if you didn't think she was up to something. What did she do? Is she a spy?"

"A spy for _what_?" Hermione asked.

Crabbe rubbed his hands together. "I watched a tellabizun show once. There was a spy in it. He was tied to a tree and tickled until he said who he was spying for. Can we do that?"

"I'M NOT A SPY!"

"That's exactly what a spy would say," said Goyle.

Hermione jumped to her feet and spun to face her boyfriend. "Dr-Malfoy!"

He was smiling a little too much. "I kind of like the idea of the tying up and tickling."

"Malfoy, I swear..." Hermione backed up as the two hulking boys started advancing on her.

"But, as it turns out, Granger actually has a good reason for being out here," Draco said. Crabbe and Goyle groaned in disappointment. "She needs to gather the feathers of a rare creature. You heard how mouthy she was getting in potions yesterday. As is usual for her," he sneered. The other two boys chortled in agreement. "Snape is punishing her by making her get ingredients for him."

"So you make sure she gets what she's supposed to, and we'll make sure she doesn't do any sneaky spy stuff!" Crabbe said.

"I-am-not-a-spy," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"She might try to seduce you. I hear girl spies do that," Goyle said.

Crabbe frowned slightly. "What does 'seduce' mean?"

"I dunno. I thought you might know, Crabbe. It sounds like it might be scary. Or painful," Goyle replied.

"How?" Hermione said as low as she could to Draco, "How do you not kill them?"

"I ask myself that every day," he replied under his breath. Returning back to his snotty, bossy voice, he said, "Crabbe, Goyle, we're all going to have to be quiet and still. Can you two do that?"

Hermione sat with her back to the stone troll. Draco took a seat on a stump not far away. Goyle found a patch of wildflowers and started making garlands. Crabbe promptly fell asleep with Mrs. Norris resting on his belly. Feeling self-conscious, Hermione started to sing. Her voice was sweet enough, but not very strong, and she wondered if the perytons would even hear her.

She sang what she knew best, the Beatles songs her parents had played so many times. 'Michelle', 'Yellow Submarine', 'Blackbird', 'And I Love Her'. She had just started on 'Golden Slumbers' when a movement caught her eye. Her voice wavered a little, but she kept singing. A stag emerged from the Forbidden Forest, the feathers on his hindquarters and enormous wings a rich golden-brown with white tips. His antlers spread wide and high. He sniffed the air and regarded them all with his liquid black eyes. Sensing no threat, he walked to the stream to drink. He was followed by three does and their fawns.

The fawns were dappled with white spots on both fur and feathers, and had fragile little legs. Hermione barely breathed as a pair of twins nursed from their mother just a meter away from her. Two more were frisking around, chasing and butting each other. Sometimes they'd leap up and flap their wings. Hermione and Draco exchanged happy grins.

"BEE!" Goyle leapt from his flower patch with a garland sitting crookedly on his head. He flapped his arms wildly and ran in an aimless zigzag. "BEE BEE BEE BEE BEE!" He tripped over one of the fawns, and it let out a frightened bleat.

Immediately, every adult peryton charged.


	8. Chapter 8

There was no time to think. Hermione could hear Goyle screaming as she hurtled through the trees. Something was after her, making crashing noises as it pursued her. The Forest got darker and denser, the trunks of the trees enormous and covered with moss. She leapt over a fallen oak, and found herself caught. Her whole right side was stuck in a spiderweb that was almost as big as the Gryffindor common room. Her wand was in a pocket on her right side; it might as well have been on the moon for all the good it did her.

The strands of the web were as thick as ropes. Wriggling, pulling, jumping up and down, it did no good. "Oh, no. Ohnononono." From the corner of her eye, she could see too many long, skinny legs. _What a completely pathetic way to die_, she thought as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She hoped it wouldn't hurt too badly. The web shook as its maker moved toward its prey.

There was a loud bang and a pitiful squealing sound. Opening her eyes, Hermione saw Draco levitating a much smaller spider. "Not so scary now, are you?" Draco said to it. It squealed some more. Draco dropped it onto the blossom of an ugly, fleshy-looking plant, which promptly ate the spider, chewing it up with sharp teeth.

"_Ew_."

Draco used his wand to get her loose from the web. As soon as she was freed, she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him hard. When she pulled back, he was smiling dizzily. "Wow."

She returned her feet to the ground, but kept her arms around him. "You really did save my life."

"Well, you know, I am a prefect-"

"And you cannot let a student die on your watch!" They laughed for a good five minutes, giddy from the day's adventures and each other. Then they kissed some more. Hermione learned that, contrary to what she'd believed for years, using tongues was not disgusting at all.

Draco reluctantly drew back from her lips. "We should get out of here, I think. There might be more acromantulas where that one came from."

Hermione looked around at the freakishly enormous trees surrounding them. All she could see was trunks and more trunks. "How do we know what direction to go in?"

"Doesn't moss grow on the north side of a tree?'

"There's moss on every side of these trees, I'm afraid."

"We can't die out here. They'd take away our prefect badges posthumously. Think of the shame."

"If we do die, we should do it with our arms around each other so people have something to talk about." Hermione was getting hungry and chilly. "And here we didn't even get any peryton feathers."

"Oh, really?" Something tickled her neck. She turned. Draco was holding a handful of golden-brown feathers with white tips. "I ripped these out as I ran past the stag. I don't think I'll be welcome in peryton-land again."

"You are unbelievable!"

"Do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?"

In reply, Hermione kissed him again. He laughed against her mouth when her stomach growled.

"Granger! Malfoy! Stupid, stupid children!"

They drew away from each other. "Over here!" Hermione called.

"Stay put, you lot!" Hermione recognized Filch's cranky voice. "My cat's got a broken tail because of you!" The scrawny old man came around a bole as big around as a carpark. "I shouldn't have to go chasing after the likes of you. Thoughtless, all of you. I have the rheumatiz, but do any of you care? _Brats_." He was carrying Mrs. Norris, whose tail was completely bandaged up. "Follow me."

Filch muttered darkly as he escorted them out of the Forest and to Umbridge's office. McGonagall was there with the Headmistress, along with Crabbe and Goyle. Goyle was sitting in a chair, looking a bit dazed. There was a hoofprint in the middle of his forehead.

"My, my," Delores chirped, "Mr. Crabbe has told me a most interesting story. Oh, there you are, Snape."

As he entered the office, the potions master looked at Hermione, and then at Draco, one corner of his mouth curling up slightly. _He knows_! Hermione had never thought of Snape as being emotionally perceptive before.

"Professor, is it true that you sent Hermione into the Forbidden Forest to gather peryton feathers as punishment?" Umbridge asked.

Snape looked at Hermione. She stealthily traced a P in the air, hoping he would understand it represented 'Phoenix'. "Yes, it is true. You had better have gotten them, Granger, or you will be cleaning cauldrons for a week." Draco held the feathers up. "Oh, thank you, Malfoy." Hermione's heart sank as Snape took the feathers and tucked them into his robes.

Umbridge clapped her pudgy hands. "I know you meant well, Malfoy, following Granger. She has been known to be a trouble-maker. Just try to be more careful next time, dear. You're all dismissed."

Crabbe helped Goyle out of the chair. "There was a bee," Goyle whimpered as Crabbe half-carried him through the door, "I don't like bees. A giant bee stepped on my head."

Hermione and Draco headed for the door at the very same moment, jostling into one another. "Watch it, Granger!" he snapped, his hand touching her hip for a second.

"You watch it, Malfoy!" She put her hand on his chest, pretending to shove him. Snape made a snorting sound.

Hermione headed for the Great Hall, hoping she hadn't missed the evening meal. She was so hungry she wobbled. Swift footsteps approached her from behind. Snape pressed the feathers into her hand. "Heaven help us all if the two of you have children," he murmured. He hurried away from her, robes flowing, leaving Hermione to wonder of what he'd said was Snape's version of a compliment.


	9. Chapter 9

A note folded in the shape of a lotus:

_The only fatality was the picnic basket (trampled to bits), so it wasn't officially the Worst Date Ever. G. will be all right. If I was mean, I would say it's only his head, there's nothing in it anyway. _A drawing of a stick figure doubled over with laughter.

_I'm half-way through 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. It's funny to think that most Muggles think wizards are imaginary, isn't it? And that they all look like Dumbledore? I'm not ever going to look like Dumbledore. I'm going to look just like my father ALL MY LIFE. REALLY. Professor Binns keeps calling me by my father's name. So you already know what I'm going to look like twenty-some years from now. Think you can handle it? (But I'll be much nicer, I swear.)_

_The school year is drawing to an end, and that makes me sad. Partly because you and I will be separated. But also because I truly do not want to go home. It's not really home any more. DEs are there all the time now. Some of them have started looking at me, staring at me, saying things to me when my parents are out of earshot. I have to always be on guard when they're around, because if they caught me alone, well, they're not the sort that would take no for an answer. One of them is a werewolf. If I say anything to my parents, they think I'm being silly._

_Also, there is someone... You read The Daily Prophet, I'm sure you can guess. Someone who is a relative, someone who shouldn't be loose in the world. She is one of the most frightening people I have ever met. Her only joy in life is to make people suffer. _

_Worst of all, the DL is there sometimes. He touched me once-he held my hand while he blathered about loyalty. It was horrible. He's like a corpse crossed with a snake. _

_Too often, I wonder if my parents love me as much as I love them._

_Things I do know:_

_1) I love you_

_2) I need you_

_3) Sunwise wrote a song about you: "A woman like the sun/Lights me up every time/ Leads me out the dark/ With the way she shines" _

_4) I'm pretty sure that Snape thinks our relationship is funny._

_5) I love you._

_D._

A note in the form of a crane:

_I don't know how I can sleep after reading that. I can read between the lines. You are in grave danger, and you know it. I want to save you. Oh, my God, I want to save you. I mentioned summer work to McGonagall, and she said that Dogweed and Deathcap often have need of apprentices. Perhaps your parents would agree to that? You could tell them that it will help you learn more herbology. You'd be much safer in Dumbledore comes back (and he WILL come back, I know it!), we can tell him everything, and he will protect you._

_There's nothing wrong with the way your father looks. It's his personality that I find unattractive. I'll always think that you're beautiful._

_I can't help wondering if Snape gave me the feathers back because he wants to see what you and I will get up to next. Maybe we're entertaining him. Speaking of whom, there are some books on his desk that I've never seen in the library. Let's try to get detention tomorrow! If we have a fight in class, Snape will know we're faking it, but he'll have to punish us anyway, right? _

_Things I do know:_

_1) I love you._

_2) To quote the Beatles, I'll be "here, there, and everywhere" for you._

_3) R. is going absolutely mad over not knowing who my 'secret admirer' is. _

_4) H. doesn't care at all, he's too busy trying to figure out what you're up to. I'm tempted to hide his invisiblity cloak so he can't use it to find out that you're up to... well, me._

_5) Every time I see PP putting her scaly claws all over you, it makes me want to do things that aren't very nice._

_6) I love you. _


	10. Chapter 10

"What do you think you're doing, Granger?"

"You're doing it wrong! If you just dump all the spider eggs in at once, your cauldron is going to explode."

"I'll have you know that my O.W.L. score in potions was Outstanding."

"Stop being such a Malfoy. Look-"

Draco gave Hermione a small shove. Hermione pushed back. Draco's cauldron hit the floor, spewing blue goo everywhere. They both turned to look at Snape, who was regarding them with a flat stare. "Five points from Gryffindor."

"And none from Slytherin? That's so unfair," Hermione complained.

"And detention for Miss Granger."

The other Slytherins snickered. Draco gave Hermione another small shove. "Serves you right, you uppity, mouthy Muggle-born." She bumped up against another table, dumping Crabbe's cauldron right in his lap.

Snape clutched his forehead and muttered something under his breath. "Detention for you, too, Malfoy. And clean up that mess, both of you, before the spiders start hatching. Without using magic. Granger, get Crabbe's robes."

...

Later that day, Hermione and Draco were presented with a huge pile of dirty cauldrons from the first year students' class. Some of them were hissing and smoking. _Well, it was still better than cleaning up Crabbe_, Hermione thought. The over-sized boy had enjoyed it a bit too much.

"Number one, you _will_ get all of these cauldrons done. If you do not finish today, you will come back tomorrow. Number two, do you see that orb sitting on my desk?" The two students looked. It was about the size of a standard globe, and sitting in a filigreed silver stand. Violet, lavender, and purple smoke swirled inside of it. "If even one of your feet leave the floor for more than fifteen seconds, it will release a noxious gas. It will do the same if anyone besides me tries to touch it or tamper with it on any way. Am I clear?'

"Quite." Hermione couldn't suppress a tiny smile.

"Please bear in mind, this is a classroom, not a love nest." Snape strode from the room.

They were able to hold in their giggles just long enough for the potions master to get out of earshot. "_Love nest_? Who says that?" Hermione asked as she peeked out into the corridor.

"I don't know what a love nest is, but maybe we should get one. It might come in handy someday." Draco helped jam the door shut with a stool. "Now that no one else can get in, maybe this _is_ a love nest."

"Let's find out." Still, giggly, they kissed a bit. "Hmm... No, it doesn't seem very nest-y in here. And it smells funny," Hermione said.

"The smell is getting worse." Draco grimaced. "The first years were doing something with sulphur."

They got to work cleaning the stinkier cauldrons. Hermione smirked at Draco, whose soft, manicured hands were not accustomed to such work. She laughed when he winced over a broken nail. "Want me to kiss it all better?"

"All right. Then I'll hurt some of my other parts."

That made Hermione blush. And have _thoughts_. "Um, maybe we should look at those books now."

The books on Snape's desk were huge and ancient-looking. The one on top was the smallest, and Hermione could barely carry it. Draco took the tome underneath. They sat across from each other at a table. Hermione studied the brass lock that secured the velvet-covered volume before her, noticing that there was no keyhole. "Alohomora!" That didn't work. She stroked its spine, as if it was 'The Monster Book of Monsters'. Nothing.

"My father has some books with locks like that." Draco reached across the table and tapped a complicated rhythm on the lock. The metal began to glow red. "Oh, no, a self-destruct lock!" He kept tapping at it, cursing as his fingers got burned. "No no no no, Snape will kill us." The lock emitted an ear-piercing screech and frosted over so suddenly that one of Draco's fingers was frozen to it. He hissed in pain as he pulled it away, leaving skin behind.

"Maybe we should look at the other books first," Hermione ventured.

"A book isn't protected like this because it has recipes for wrinkle-removing potions. There's something juicy in here." He continued tapping away with his other hand while sucking on his injured fingers. The lock let out a nasty, sparking shock, and Draco displayed an impressive ability to swear, even with his mouth full. "Well, there's another thing I can try, but I'm going to look rather idiotic doing it."

"Looking idiotic is better than losing all your fingers."

Draco leaned down and put his lips on the lock. The book let out a sigh and the lock opened with a snicking sound. "My father's poison manual opens that way. I'm not supposed to know, but I used to spy on him."

Hermione flipped to the table of contents, and there it was: 'Veritaserum Antidote, Otherwise Known as Obfuscerum... Page 1578.' She flipped through the pages in a fever of excitement. At this point, making the antidote was now a personal challenge for Hermione, a puzzle she had to solve, a way to flex her mental and magical muscle. And so she took it rather personally when all of page 1578 was entirely blacked out.

"You're cute when you growl," Draco said. He tore the page out, and Hermione squealed in horror at the desecration of a book. "Don't worry. I can fix it." He held the page up to the light and squinted. " 'Obfuscerum must be stirred under moonlight by the hand of a virgin'. There go my plans for tomorrow." Hermione blushed again. "Hmm... peryton feathers, unicorn hair, aaaand... venomous toadwart."

"Let me guess. We have to go into the Forbidden Forest for venomous toadwart."

"No, I'm pretty sure I've seen that at Dogweed and Deathcap."

"And we need to go there anyway, to see if we can get you a position there for the summer."

"And tomorrow is a Hogsmeade day!"

"Perfect!" Hermione leaned across the table for a kiss. Very quickly, the table between them became an annoyance, and Draco moved his stool next to hers. But keeping both feet on the floor while sitting and snogging was hard on their necks, so they stood up. Pressing the full length of her body against Draco's felt absolutely heavenly. Beyond thinking clearly, she picked up one foot, drawing it up his leg caressingly. Draco made a sweet sound against her mouth as she climbed up him.

_Hsssssssssssssssssss_. The room filled with purple and violet smoke, and they both began to cough and wheeze. They unjammed the door and spilled into the hallway, wiping their eyes and gagging.

Once their stinging eyes could see again, Snape was standing before them. "Ah. Looks like the two of you will be back tomorrow. I'll see you at ten."


	11. Chapter 11

Hermione and Draco started pleading simultaneously.

"But tomorrow is a-"

"Hogsmeade day!"

"And we need to go-"

"It's really important!"

"Please!"

"Please!"

Snape lifted one eyebrow. "Oh, did you have plans to hold hands at Madam Puddifoot's? You two schemed to get detention together. Now you have it."

Snape was about to step into the classroom, wand out, when McGonagall called to him. "We must see Dumbledore. A little conference with Pansy Parkinson and Ginny Weasley. They've been hexing each other again."

As soon as the potions master was out of sight, Draco and Hermione each took a deep breath and ran back into the noxious purple mist. Draco fixed the page he'd torn, and they put the books back on the desk just as they had been. They dashed back out into the hallway, choking and snuffling.

"Hermione, you've never looked lovelier," Draco gurgled.

"Oh, shut up, idiot." Hermione wiped at her swollen eyes, too teared up to see a thing.

...

A scrap flew to Hermione: _Umbridge still favors me-it must be my good looks. She overrruled Snape, and I am going to Hogsmeade tomorrow! Think you can make it, too? D_

On the back of it she wrote: _Just TRY to keep me away. H_

...

Hermione was surprised that Harry would so readily lend out his Marauder's Map and cloak of invisibility to her. Well, she had to admit, she was very responsible. Mostly. Not so much as she used to be, really.

She emerged from Honeyduke's (where Crabbe and Goyle were spending the galleons Draco had given them as a distraction) and found a private spot from which to emerge from the cloak, then headed for Dogweed and Deathcap. Draco was already there, and he smiled gorgeously when he caught sight of her. She suppressed the urge to throw herself on him. Public displays of affection were probably not the best way to impress a potential employer. Not to mention the roaming Hogwarts students that might see them.

Entering the shop, they were immendiately enveloped by hot, humid, earthy-smelling air. Skylights pierced the ceiling at regular intervals, letting in the sun. Up front, enticing the window-shoppers, were the most beautiful plants: irridescent roses, lacy ferns that floated potless in the air, long grasses that constantly moved as if ruffled by a gentle breeze. A smocked girl stood behind the cash register, filing her nails and chomping her gum loudly. "Who do I speak to about an apprenticeship?" Draco asked her.

The girl hooked a thumb toward the rear of the shop. "Through the red door. Dogweed's in greenhouse." She looked Draco over... and over. "You look posh. I don't think you'll be able to handle it, with those soft hands of yours. You' re fit, though." Hermione bristled.

As they made their way through the shop, Hermione asked, "If you get accepted here, will I have reason to be jealous?"

"Hardly. She chews like a cow."

They wandered through an herb section, a mushroom section, and a carnivorous plant section (where Hermione saw a plant just like the one that ate the Acromantula) to the red door. On the other side, the greenouse was even more steamy and redolent. Mr. Dogweed was crooning tenderly to a spiky, purple plant while stroking its leaves.

"Hello, Mr. Dogweed. My named is Draco Malfoy. Please, may I speak to you?" Draco held his hand out to the middle-aged man politely.

"_Can't you see I'm busy_?" the frizzle-haired man roared. The plant he was doting on promtly curled up in terror. "Now look what you've done. _Imbecile_." He went back to stroking the leaves, getting them to straighten out again. Draco and Hermione just stood there, waiting.

After twenty minutes, Dogweed looked up at them. "Still here, hmm? What is it?"

"I was wondering if you might need an apprentice for the summer, sir."

Dogweed snorted. "Rich boy. The first time you have to trim the Albanian Growler, you'll wet yourself." He turned his beady little eyes on Hermione. "That your girlfriend? She looks too clever to be with you." He went back to baby-talking to his plant.

Was that a no? Hermione couldn't tell.

"You will sign a magically binding agreement, so you can't waste my time by quitting before the summer ends. You will get room and board. If you want pocket money, you will have to get it elsewhere. You will work twelve hours a day, far, far harder than you ever have in your pampered little life. You will do your own laundry and make your own bed. And I don't approve of hanky-panky, so your girlfriend will not be allowed in your quarters."

...

"Your parents aren't going to be happy that you signed that contract without telling them about it." Hermione was carrying a potted venomous toadwart, making sure to make no skin contact with its leaves. She had the cloak on so no one would see them together.

"Yes, well, it's too late now. Did you read the fine print? If I try to get out of it, I just end up being irresistibly drawn back, and then I have to take care of the corpse flower."

"Corpse... what?"

"This enormous, hideous flower that smells like rotting flesh. He showed it to me. It has its own room. Dogweed says all the other plants hate it." He stopped and reached out, somehow managing to find her waist and slide his hand across it. "I know a place where we can be alone. Completely, utterly alone."

It was a hollow surrounded on three sides by steep, rocky bluffs. Draco pulled a cloth out and spread it on the ground while Hermione set spells that would let them know if anyone else came near. Draco had worn his school robes to impress Dogweed, but he pulled them off now and stood in perfectly tailored charcoal gray trousers and a silk-knit pullover. Clothing that cost nearly as much as Hermione's entire wardrobe.

"What are you looking at?" Draco asked.

"You." She liked the way he started out all wide at the shoulders and tapered down to slim hips. She liked how the shirt hinted at Quidditch-toned muscle. She liked everything that she was seeing.

He sat on the cloth and kicked off his shoes. "I've got an hour before I need to get back. Come here." He held a hand out to her. She took off her own shoes and joined him. He ran a hand through her hair, as best he could; his fingers got stuck and he laughed. Hermione straddled his legs to kiss him, setting her hands on his chest so she could feel him through the shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and fell back, pulling her on top of him.

...

Hermione was walking toward the Gryffindor common room, dazed and smiling. Her lips were swollen, there were twigs in her hair, and her shirt was buttoned wrong. _And yet still a virgin_, she was thinking, _but just barely_.

There was a slow, measured tread behind her. The hair on the back of her neck prickled.

"Miss. Hermione. Jean. Granger."

Snape.


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione turned to face Snape, knowing it was something that just had to be endured. His dark eyes took in every detail of her dishevelled appearance, from her bushier-than-usual hair to her grass-stained knees. "My, yes, you did have very important business to take care of, didn't you. It must have been the same important business that left Malfoy with the tail of his shirt sticking out of his trouser zip. I believe Filch still has some chastity belts in his collection of Midieval devices. He keeps them in his iron maiden. Perhaps Madame Pomfrey ought to fit you for one."

Hermione blushed so hard, she broke into a sweat. "I got this," she said weakly, holding up the venomous toadwart. With her other hand, she traced the letter P, plus 'D.A.' for Dumbledore's Army.

"And you are planning on using that for...?" He cast a quick spell that Hermione didn't recognize. "You may speak freely, as long as you keep your voice down. And put your hand over your mouth-you never know who may be able to lipread."

"Obfuscerum," Hermione said softly from behind her hand.

"No one knows how to make that anymore. The Ministry has been very sucessful at suppressing the recipe."

"But I have all the ingredients now."

"You know as well as I that there's much more to it than that. How much of each ingredient? How are the ingredients prepared? In what order are they added? How many times and in what direction do you stir it? Do you chant anything while making it? Without knowing the precise method of brewing it , you are engaging in a very risky gamble, especially with the venomous toadwart. Under most circumstances, it is quite poisonous. It has to be cut at just the right phase of the moon."

"Can't you help me?"

"If I was caught helping a student make Obfuscerum, my teacher career would be over. Which would interfere with... certain duties." Umbridge came sailing around the corner, her Inquisitorial Squad following behind like ducklings with their mother. Snape quickly undid the spell. "Granger, that will be fifty points from Gryffindor, two weeks of detention, and an essay five feet long explaining why young women should not let young men unbutton their blouses."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but knew it would only make things worse. Maybe he _would _get Madame Pomfrey to put a chastity belt on her. She'd seen illustrations of them; they were like bikini bottoms made out of steel, with sharp, strategically placed teeth. She risked a quick glance at Draco as he passed her by. He gave her a small, sympathetic smile.

Parkinson said loudly, "What a tart." Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass snickered. Crabbe and Goyle gave her interested looks. Blaise Zabini made a gesture at her with his tongue. _Bloody hell_. _I've got a reputation now_.

...

_I'm so sorry about what P. is doing. She's always been jealous of you. It upsets her that a Muggle-born is so much more clever and pretty than she is. And it's so unfair how people are being. Everyone could tell I'd been up to something when I came back yesterday-I had thistles in my hair and my belt was wrong-side out. Pansy was angry, of course, but everyone else thought it was just fine. Just because I'm a boy. But just because you're a girl, everyone thinks you did wrong, and that you're a tart. (How no one can put two and two together and figure that I was with you... I'm rather disappointed in my fellow Slytherins' powers of ratiocination.) _

_I hope your friends are standing by you. Why Snape had to say what he said when I said it, I just don't understand._

_Things I do know:_

_1) I could barely sleep last night, remembering yesterday afternoon._

_2) I wish we were older, and that we could live together, and sleep in the same bed. (You're blushing now, aren't you. You're so pretty when you do.) _

_3) I don't want to ever stop kissing you. Not to mention the other things._

_4) You're strong enough to get through this rough patch. I think you're much stronger than I am. _

_5) I'm starting to understand these Sunwise lyrics better: 'Kisses like fire/ Grow hotter in my mind at night/ They feed my desire/ To join with you in loving flight'_

_6) I love you, I want you, I love you_

_D_

...

_Oh, my... You're note made me blush SO MUCH. I think even my toenails turned red. But I liked it. It made my heart beat so fast. _

_R. isn't speaking to me right now, but he'll get over it. H. doesn't care what people say. He put a dead frog in P.'s hair this morning to punish her. (H. is not a frog-killer-it was a pre-deceased frog) I laughed when she started crying-does that make me a bad person? _

_So do you think you can sneak out with me tonight to experiment with making the O.? I have some rats to test it on. I don't know if we'll be able to accomplish more than making a pile of creatively-murdered rodents, but we won't know unless we try. _

_Things I do know:_

_1) Until I kissed you, I sometimes thought about becoming a nun. I don't ever think about it now. _

_2) Yesterday afternoon, I learned that with some things, reading about them in a book doesn't really prepare you very well. Some things are best learned through experience, I guess, not books. R. and H.'s heads would explode if they knew I wrote that last sentence._

_3) The rest of that Sunwise song makes even my hair blush. But I can't stop thinking of you when I listen to it. I can't stop thinking about you, period._

_4) I love you, I want you, I love you. _

_H._


	13. Chapter 13

The moon was full and close and glowing nearly orange, its light flooding through the Astronomy Tower embrasures. It had set the creatures of the Forbidden Forest to howling. Hermione had spent so much time soothing frightened first years, she'd nearly not made it to the Tower.

Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and lips teased the nape of her neck. "Watch the venomous toadwart! It'll make you blow up like a dirigible if you touch it," Hermione cautioned.

"That wouldn't be so bad if you'd join me in my hospital cot," Draco breathed into her ear.

Hermione's knees started to get a bit wobbly. "I don't think there'd be enough room for me, what with you expanded to twice your normal size." Teeth nipped her earlobe, and hands began wandering. "Ah, maybe we should try making the potion first, and then play."

"What fun is that?" The hands stopped what they were doing. Just in time, too; a moment longer, and Hermione would have lost all ability to resist.

Hermione was surprised to see that Draco had on a pair of black jeans. She'd never expected to see a Malfoy wearing something so Mugglish. They looked damned good on him. He had another silk-knit pullover shirt on. It had been a while since his hair had been trimmed, and one lock kept falling over his eyes. He pushed it back and grinned at her, enjoying the way she was gawking at him.

He knelt down in front of the cage that Hermione had levitated up the stairs a few hours earlier. "So these are our victims?" Ten rats glared at him resentfully, as if they knew what was in store for them.

Hermione was checking out Draco's rear view. "I brought two pairs of dragon hide gloves. They bite. But first, we've got to cut the toadwart. Luckily, this is the right phase of the moon." As soon as Hermione pulled a small pair of gardening shears from her hoodie pocket, the venomous toadwart started hissing and spitting and bushing its leaves out. "Why can't this plant just be a_ plant_? It's so much easier when they don't have emotions."

"Dogweed says all plants have emotions. Maybe if you talk to it like he would?"

"It's all right, sweet ickle toadwart. Mummy wouldn't hurt a pretty little plant like you." Hermione felt like an idiot. "Just an itty, bitty clipping, baby." She moved the shears closer. The plant made a blatting noise. Hermione recoiled. "Ugh! What a horrible smell! I _told_ Longbottom not the feed it curry."

Draco knelt down again; Hermione started to wonder if he was purposely doing it so she could admire the way the denim of his jeans molded against his bum. He started singing a lullabye that Hermione had never heard before, something about a baby napping on a cloud. The toadwart relaxed its leaves and went quiet. After a couple more verses, it began to droop and make tiny noises that sounded an awful lot like snores. Hermione quickly snipped off some leaves. The toadwart started shrieking. "Sorry," she said to it, quite sincerely.

It was time to experiment. The first batch looked like something a dragon sicked up, and Hermione Vanished it without testing it. The second batch looked like honey and smelled like roses, but it made the rat that drank it explode violently; Hermione was very glad that she knew some good cleaning charms. The third batch spontaneously combusted in the cauldron. The fourth gave the test rat the power of speech, and he had nothing good to say to them. The fifth turned a rat to stone; "That was my brother!" the talking rat exclaimed angrily.

The sixth batch looked like water with silver glitter suspended in it, and smelled faintly like anise. They fed it to a rat, with no immediate effect. Hermione wrote down the formulas they'd tried so far in her grimoire while they waited to see if there might be a delayed reaction to the potion. Twenty minutes later, the rat was still its ratty own self. Hermione poured the remainder of the potion into a vial. She held it up to the moon and watched the sparkles swirling within it. "Could this really be it?"

"I'll steal some Veritaserum from Umbridge so we can test it out." Draco took the vial from her hand and set it safely in one of the embrasures. "Now, you promised playtime." He put his hands just under her hoodie, on the bare skin of her waist. Electricity seemed to come from his fingertips. Hermione melted against him.

"_Disgusting_," said the rat.

"Get out of here _right now _or I'll set my cat on you."

...

Ron was sitting in the common room when Hermione finally made it back. "Out until four in the morning. And what's that mark on your neck? Maybe it's true what people say about you. Was it even the same bloke as before?"

Hermione bit back an angry retort and held up the vial.

Ron's face went from stormy to elated instantly. He jumped up and headed for the boys' dorm. "Fred and George just nicked some Veritaserum from Umbridge's office. Let's test it right now!"


	14. Chapter 14

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, and I make no money from this

...

Ron came back with a pajama-clad, yawning Harry and a sealed vial. "All right, who are we going to test this on?" he asked eagerly.

Hermione took a deep breath. "It should be me." If there was something in her potion that would, say, cause one to sprout donkey ears within twenty-four hours, she should be the one to carry those consequences. After all, it was her own lying lips that led to this situation. She popped open both vials. The Veritaserum left no impression on her taste buds. The glittery liquid she and Draco had concocted tasted like pineapple.

Ron rubbed his hands together and grinned. "I'm going to ask the first question. Who were you with last night, Hermione?"

"Malfoy." Oh, dear. Whatever the glittery liquid was, it was not Obfuscerum.

Ron and Harry gave each other triumphant looks. "It works, it works, it works!" Ron did a little happy jig.

"I want to play this game, too," said Harry, "What did you and Malfoy do together last night?"

"We-we made the antidote. Then we hugged, and kissed, and he put his hands under my-"

Ron threw his hands up in a 'halt right there' gesture. "You're just making a story up to prove that you can lie. No need to get really detailed."

"Oh, come on, Ron. We haven't had much fun this year. Let's see what lies Hermione can make up." Harry was actually rubbing his hands together. Hermione was starting to suspect he was sex-starved. "He put his hands where?"

Hermione wished for an earthquake, a meteor strike, _anything_. Her face was burning, and sweat was popping out on her upper lip. She tried to fight it, but the Veritaserum was making her mouth open, her tongue move, her vocal cords vibrate. "Under my shirt."

"I saw the whole thing," a small voice piped up, "and it was positively revolting." The talking rat! Hermione kicked at it, and it zoomed under a sagging couch.

"What on the name of Merlin was that?" Ron exclaimed, kneeling down to grope under the couch. He pulled the rat out by its tail.

The rat squirmed frantically. "Put me down, you stupid ginger!"

Ron poked at the rodent with his wand. "What did you see, then?"

"That trollop there, cavorting shamelessly with a boy."

"And what did this boy look like?"

Ron was going to have to die. It was the only solution.

That was when Crookshanks, taking a running leap, swiped at both the rat and Ron's hand with claws unsheathed. Ron yelped and dropped the rat. The rat sped away and squeezed through a crack in the wall where no cat could follow. Hermione was going to have to beg some sort of tidbits from the kitchen elves to reward Crookshanks, as she had no doubt that he had sensed her distress and had deliberately come to her rescue. She picked the cat up in both arms, letting out a little 'oof' because of his weight, and gave him a thorough cuddling.

"I hate that bloody cat," Ron griped. He put his hand to his mouth and sucked on his scratches.

"I hate spying little rats worse," said Hermione.

…

Hermione was studying while sitting on her favorite lake-side bench. A note folded into the shape of a bunny's head floated to her, and she smiled. Draco was getting good at origami. "_Good afternoon, Beautiful._ _I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work. Now you've got to stay a you-know-what a little longer. Meet me in the Astronomy Tower tonight_? _D_"

"Is that one of your customers asking how much for the night?" Pansy Parkinson made a grab for the note, but only got a shock on her fingers before it turned into sparks and ashes. She glared at Hermione. "You really think you're something special, don't you? But you're wrong. You're common as mud." She stalked away, leading her gang.

"Slag," Millicent Bulstrode hissed.

"Slapper," Daphne Greengrass spat.

Hermione just sat there on the stone bench doing a slow burn. Oh, how she wanted to throw that fact that _she_, common-as-mud Hermione Granger, was the one that Draco loved right in Parkinson's pug-like face. She wrote a note, and folded it into a star. "_Yes, yes, I most certainly will meet you. I'm going to put my arms around you and I'm going to kiss you and, oh, how I wish I could tell all the world that you're mine. H_"

Hermione walked back to the castle, chin up. She refused to acknowledge the stares and whispers that followed wherever she went. She refused to cover up the mark on her neck. And she refused to be shamed for something that she knew was very, very right.


	15. Chapter 15

The rest of the day could only be endured. It wasn't just the Slytherin girls, now. Some of the Ravenclaws had started calling Hermione unpleasant names. A boy from Hufflepuff asked her if it was true that she would have a go with any boy that asked. Hermione did her best to retain her dignity, but after a seventh-year Gryffindor whispered a nasty request in her ear, she retreated to Moaning Myrtle's lavatory to hide her tears. She didn't even mind the presence of the usually irritating ghost. At least Myrtle understood what it was like to be unfairly persecuted.

The school year was almost done. Hermione was sure that people would forget over the summer. She wouldn't be like the girl a couple of years ago who, after rumors about her supposed promiscuity spread like wildfire, transferred to Beauxbatons. Hogwarts was her second home, and she would not let herself be driven from it.

Ron wasn't as bad as he had been; the supposed Obfuscerum had softened him up some. But he was still distant with her. It hurt, but Hermione knew that it was because of his feelings for her, even if he didn't fully realize himself what those feelings were. Ginny was furious with her, as she thought that Hermione had betrayed her brother.

Harry and Luna were rock-solid, though. They were both so used to others talking about them that they didn't give gossip any mind. The two of them took food from the Great Hall and brought it to the rotunda where Hermione was spending her dinnertime, sitting on a tatty-looking chaise.

Harry looked at the domed ceiling above them. It was painted with fat, naked cherubs. "Why have I never seen this place before this week?"

"Hogwarts is like a very modest lady. It never shows all of itself at once," Luna replied. "Last year, I found a staircase that led to a gallery lined with carousel horses. I haven't seen it since."

Hermione, having finished her supper, yawned and stretched. "Thank you. I really couldn't face the Great Hall tonight. The temptation to hex someone might have gotten too strong."

"She would do it, too. She's mean." The talking rat was scurrying around the rotunda floor, picking up bits of dropped food. "She petrified my brother just for fun."

"Are you following me or something?" Hermione asked the rat. "Why don't you go hang around with your own kind?"

"Yeah, because there are so many talking rats around. Make a girl talking rat for me, and I'll go away."

Luna leaned down to look at the rat, cooing. "Oh, how adorable!" The rat said something rude.

"Well, I think I'm going to take a nap." Hermione stretched out on the chaise.

Harry and Luna took their leave. "Sweet dreams, my little fairy princess," the rat said sarcastically.

"Shut it."

...

Hermione was waiting in the Astronomy Tower, watching the treetops of the forest ripple in the breeze. She heard the sound of footsteps on stone. Seeing her boyfriend's blond hair gleaming in the moonlight made her heart jump. He pulled her to him for kiss.

The sound of a gasp made them jump apart a split second before someone hurled a stinging hex at them. The hex just barely missed them, but the burst of white light that accompanied it ruined Hermione's night vision. She whipped out her wand and aimed a stunning spell in the direction the gasp had come from. It struck stone, making a shower of sparks that dimly revealed a running figure. As soon as the sparks died, Hermione had to duck another stinging hex. The sobs Hermione was hearing made it obvious who her attacker was: Pansy Parkinson.

Draco had his wand out now, and he was also throwing stunning spells. Parkinson's barrage of hexes didn't slow down, even though she was so distraught, Hermione wondered how she could breathe. At least the gasping sobs gave Hermione a clue as to where her attacker was. "_Expelliarmus_!" She heard the sound of something light bouncing against a stone wall. "Where are you, Draco?"

"Here," he said from somewhere behind Hermione, "It's not me you disarmed."

Parkinson was panting like a cornered animal. "Do you know what his parents will have done to you when I tell them, Mudblood?"

"_Stupefy_." There was the sound of a body thudding.

A small light appeared. Draco had used a Lumos on his wand. He walked over to Parkinson and knelt down, looking into her eyes. "We broke up almost a year ago, Pan. Why can't you let it go?" he said, almost tenderly. "_Obliviate_." He stood up and walked over to Hermione and opened his mouth as if to speak, but all he did was gaze at her by wand-light.

Hermione didn't like the sad expression in his eyes. "What's wrong, Draco?"

"She's been suspicious for a while, now. She'll just keep following me."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Then we'll just have to stop sneaking around. We'll let the world know about us."

He shook his head, his mouth twisting. "Hermione, there are things I haven't told you, because they're just too horrible. " He looked to the side, blinking hard. "The Death-Eaters are planning to... eliminate Muggle-borns. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

_Eliminate_. "You mean... exterminate us? Like we're vermin?"

"I'm afraid so." His voice was thick. Black spots swam before Hermione's eyes, and her stomach lurched up toward her mouth. The floor seemed to tip. Draco caught her before she fell, and lowered her gently. "If word of us reached my parents... You don't want Death-Eaters to be angry with you. You'll just be a target. My parents wouldn't want the shame of having a blood-traitor for a son, and they would—they would..."

"What are we going to do?" Hermione hated how small her voice sounded.

"We have to stop seeing each other. We can't even send notes any more. If you saved any, destroy them, just to be safe. Pansy... she can be quite persistent. She could get into your things if she put her mind to it." Hermione saw tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. I knew better. I knew I was putting you in danger, but I just wanted to be with you so much. If anything happens to you because of me, I don't know what I'll do."

Parkinson was beginning to stir. Draco hit her with another Stupefy and another Obliviate.

"We have to leave." Draco gathered Hermione up in a last desperate embrace and kissed her hard enough to bruise. Then he was gone.

...

Agitated, Hermione paced aimlessly through the halls of Hogwarts, not caring if she was caught by Filch. She was stopped by the sight of a familiar door. The Room of Requirement. She opened the door, curious about what the room would provide for a broken heart.

This time, the room was small and cozy. The air was unseasonably chilly, but there was a roaring fire. An overstuffed couch draped with a fluffy quilt sat behind a coffee table. The table held a pile of clean hankies, a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and a box of bon-bons. Somehow, the Teddy bear Draco had given her was there, sitting on the rag rug. A wireless softly played Beatles songs.

Hermione laid down on the couch, pulled the quilt over her, hugged the Teddy bear, and cried her heart out.


	16. Chapter 16

The next day, Hermione barely noticed the looks and the whispers and the taunts. Pansy Parkinson was so annoyed at being ignored, she set Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass on her. While Hermione was pinned to the wall by her shoulders, Parkinson got right in her face. "I know what you are," she hissed. Hermione looked right through her. She couldn't bring herself to care about idiotic schoolgirl nonsense. Parkinson flicked a finger against her forehead. "Are you listening to me?"

"Not really."

Parkinson snarled.

"Come along, Pansy, we'll be late for potions." Draco was passing them, looking straight ahead as he spoke. He wore his school robes carelessly today, open all the way down the front to show his summer-weight trousers and loosened tie. His eyes had shadows under them, and his hair needed trimming.

Hermione tried not to react, but Parkinson saw something in her eyes. "You'll be found out," she whispered fiercely just before she turned away.

What a long, awful night it had been. Hermione hadn't fallen asleep until well after midnight. She would have slept through her first class if it wasn't for Crookshanks somehow finding her in the Room of Requirement and waking her up by standing on her chest and rubbing his cold, wet nose all over her face. Crookshanks was no mere housecat, that was for sure.

Harry and Ron gave her concerned looks when she sat down in potions class. How much should she tell them, she wondered. There were so many things… her mind went around in circles, like a dog chasing its own tail. Death-Eaters who would see her and all her kind dead. Lucius Malfoy, whose own son believed he would kill Hermione to spare his family shame. And being _so close_ to the boy that she loved and wanted so much, and not being able to even look at him. Her body knew exactly where he was in the room, and wanted to turn toward him like a flower to the sun.

Ron pressed something into her hand. A chocolate frog. Hermione smiled wanly and patted him on the knee. It was a Ron version of an apology.

Hermione also couldn't stop worrying about Draco. He was safe for the summer. His father was furious about the apprenticeship, of course, but it was too late now, with the magically binding contract already signed. Lucius had tried to browbeat Dogweed into releasing Draco from it, but with no luck. Hermione dearly wanted to know the details of Lucius' meeting with the irascible shop owner.

It was silly, really, feeling like she was the only one who could help Draco. Sure, she had helped him with the apprenticeship, but what more could she do? Hermione was roused from her thoughts by getting hit on the top of the head by a walnut. "Are you listening, Miss Granger?"

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape. Were you discussing the uses of walnuts in potions?"

Snape studied her face. "Ten points from Gryffindor for… daydreaming."

Hermione saw the potions master's gaze move in Draco's direction. Perhaps Snape would help him? He'd always seem to like Draco more than most students. Snape would _have_ to know the peril that Draco faced. Harry didn't trust Snape, of course, but Hermione couldn't believe that Dumbledore and all the other members of the Order of the Phoenix were mistaken about the potions master's loyalties.

…

Hermione tried to study in the library, but she couldn't stop thinking about how much she missed the notes. She composed one in her head: "_Things I do know:_

_1) I love you so much_

_2) Staying away from you is the hardest thing I've had to do so far in my life_

_3) I'm so, so afraid, for you and for me_

_4) I can't bear to listen to Sunwise now, because it only makes me miss you more_

_5) I really hate that talking rat—I think he's stalking me_"

In fact, the rat was glaring down at her at the very moment, up on a high shelf. Hermione considered chucking her inkwell at him, but Madame Pince would probably ban her from the library for life if she did such a thing. She pushed her chair back, preparing to get up and go to the Gryffindor common room; Crookshanks would keep her rodent harasser away.

"Hold on a moment, Miss Granger. There are some gaps in your knowledge." Snape slapped a thick book on the table in front of her. " 'Heed these words well, sweet lovely girl.' It doesn't even rhyme properly. The music young people listen to these days, " he said under his breath. He turned on his heel and strode away.

Hermione laughed for the first time that day. Who would have ever expected _Snape_ to quote Sunwise lyrics?

She picked up the book. 'Interesting Times: How We Protected Our Loved Ones During the War, as told to Camarin Contego,' the cover read. Hermione flipped it open and was immediately engrossed. The stories, all told in the first person, were riveting. Every narrator had been driven by necessity to innovate during the first wizarding war. The inventor of the Vanishing Cabinet used his creation to save his friends and neighbors. A Pure-Blood developed the Shield Marriage, now a staple of witch romance novels, to preserve the life of the Muggle-born woman he fell in love with. A Scottish wizard had managed to turn his very large extended family (and himself) into moles, and they lived happily and safely underground until Voldemort was defeated; the only drawback was that many of the ex-moles were left with a life-long appetite for bugs.

A dog-eared page marked a chapter about a Muggle-born witch who was able to wipe out her parents' memories and implant completely new identities, and then perfectly restore their memories after the war ended.

Hermione went cold. Obviously, this was a warning from Draco.

The chapter included very detailed instructions on how the witch did it. Hermione read the instructions over and over again, until they were burned permanently into her brain.


	17. Chapter 17

This is not actually the end of this story!

"Hermione's Web" will continue under the title "Hermione's Shield." HW has been mostly light-hearted. HS will get a bit more serious-but there will still be smooching and stuff.

HW was about a girl becoming a woman. HS will be about what happens when Hermione and Draco have to act like adults.

The first chapter of 'Hermione's Shield" will be up the beginning of next week, so look for it! (Or just put me on watch.)

This is where the story goes completely AU. I've already fudged the timeline a bit, making the OWLs happen earlier, so they're rather like the assessment tests that American students have to take in addition to finals. But, now, things are going completely off-book.

I had to redo Chapter 14; under my timeline, Fred and George should have been gone already, so I had to cut them out. Dang, I miss them.

...

Hermione and Harry shed the invisibility cloak once they were inside Umbridge's office. Harry grabbed a handful of Floo powder and tossed it in the fireplace, crying, "Number 12 Grimmauld Place!" He stuck his head into the green flames. Hermione could hear him speaking faintly. It sounded like he was having an argument with someone.

Hermione was very uneasy. Harry had started shouting in the middle of class about Voldemort torturing Sirius in the Ministry's Department of Mysteries. Of course, being Harry Potter, he wanted to go charging off to the rescue. Sometimes she thought he should have a white steed and a shiny suit of armor. Hermione smelled a trick, but Harry wouldn't listen to reason. He could be even more bull-headed than Ron.

At least Hermione had been able to convince Harry to try firecalling Sirius first. Umbridge's office was one of her least favorite places to be, but Ginny and Luna were playing look-out, so they were safe. Or so she thought.

She whirled and pulled her wand out when she heard the door open, but Millicent Bulstrode moved fast for a big girl. She tackled Hermione and pushed her face-first to the wall, making Hermione's Stunning spell hit a chair. Millicent held her in a bear hug, making it impossible to move her wand arm.

Hermione heard Harry yelping, and Umbridge hissing. "Why are you just standing there, Malfoy? Take their wands!" she barked. Hermione's wand was pulled from her hand.

"Got 'em all," someone said. Hermione dearly wished she could see what was going on. There seemed to be a lot of people in the room.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" Umbridge asked.

"I've heard rumors that members of Dumbledore's Army carry an antidote for Veritaserum. I'm just searching them all for vials. Look, I found one!"

Hermione heard Ron swear.

Hands ran over Hermione's robes, and her wand was slipped into her hand. Just before the hands retreated, one pinched her bottom.

"Why isn't Blondie there helping free his frizzy-haired lady-love?" squeaked a familiar voice.

Millicent let out a shrill "_Eeeeeeeeeeeek_!" Her grip loosened enough that Hermione was able to eel her way free, simultaneously Stunning her captor.

The talking rat zoomed out of the room as spells began to fly. "_Stop it_!" Umbridge wailed, "_My pussycats_!" Errant spells were smashing Umbridge's plates; the kittens yowled and ran into a portrait of a ballerina to save themselves. The ballerina shrieked as kittens climbed up her tutu.

Draco was busy binding a very irate Goyle with ropes. "_What are you doing_?" Parkinson screamed. "Traitor!" She lifted her wand toward Draco. Her hand was shaking so much that her Pus-Squirting Hex hit a frilly pink pillow, sending an explosion of feathers and scraps of satin into the air. Crabbe, who was in the middle of grinding Ron's face into the floor, inhaled a feather and was immediately incapacitated by coughing. Ron flipped the larger boy off of himself and Stupefied him.

Parkinson squinted through the floating debris and stabbed her wand toward her ex-boyfriend, but before she could actually cast a spell, a green, lumpy, slimy creature flew into her face. Ginny's famous Bat Bogey Hex. At least two members of the Inquisitorial Squad squealed helplessly as disgusting winged clots crawled out of their noses. Hermione took advantage of the distraction to Stun Parkinson.

Hermione turned her attention to Umbridge, who was beating someone with a hot-pink parasol. "_Neville_? What are you doing here?"

He was crouched on the floor with his arms wrapped around his head. "Dancing a hornpipe! What does it _look_ like I'm doing? She's gone completely mental!"

Umbridge was sobbing. "You-have-ruined-my-precious-things-I-LOATHE-children!" Every word was accompanied by a thwap from the parasol. There was a shattering crash as Goyle's angry thrashings knocked over a life-sized porcelain statue of a white tiger. "My-MOTHER-gave-me-that-tiger!"

Hermione Stupefied Umbridge, and it was all over. The Headmistress and all of the Inquisitorial Squad were laid out on the floor, bound. Except for Draco. He stood in the middle of the room, looking a bit nervous as Harry, Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville stared at him. "You were helping us. Why?" Ron demanded.

Hermione walked to Draco (dodging a couple of crumbling Bogey Bats) and threw her arms around him. Draco took her chin in his hand and guided her in for a slow, sweet kiss. Parkinson started shouting and fighting against her bonds. Their lips parted, and they drew back enough to be able to gaze into one another's eyes. Luna let out a soft, drawn-out "Oh."

Ron's face creased. "But... you were lying about being with Malfoy. You took the Veritaserum antidote, remember?"

"There is no antidote for Veritaserum." Snape swept into the room, taking everything in with a swift glance. He shut the door behind him and set about Obliviating every person laying on the floor. "That recipe has been suppressed. There is no possible way Miss Granger could have properly formulated it."

"But what's in that vial, then, Hermione?" Ron asked.

Snape looked at Hermione sharply. "Let me see it." Draco pulled the vial out of his robes and handed it to the potions master. Snape uncorked it and took a deep sniff. He poured a little into his palm and licked it off. "Congratulations, Miss Granger. You've produced a perfect batch of flea-killer. Perhaps you could give some to your cat."

Ron stared at the floor, the wheels of his mind almost visibly grinding to a halt. "I-what-you-Hermione-Malfoy-"

"Yes, yes," Snape said impatiently, "They're in love. _Fascinating_. Could someone tell me what's going on here?" Harry explained. Snape nodded curtly. "I'll be off, then. I have some people to talk to." He gave Hermione an ironic look while he traced a P in the air with one finger. "Do I need to tell you all to stay here and let the grown-ups take care of this?" He glared at Harry in particular. "Anyone who leaves school grounds tonight will likely be expelled." He left the office with a final menacing look.

"I'll take that chance," Harry said, a startlingly adult look of determination on his face. He turned a steely gaze on Hermione. "But how do we know that Malfoy isn't just pretending to be in love with you?"

Ron raised his wand. "Yeah! I say we tie him up and Obliviate him, just to be safe!"

Hermione stepped in front of Draco to shield him from Ron. "You still have some Veritaserum left. Let's give it to him." She Obliviated everyone laid out on the floor, just to be safe. They would be far too disoriented from being hit with the spell twice to remember a thing that had happened in the office. "Come on. Let's do it right now."

"But I need to get to the Ministry this very minute," Harry said desperately.

"So we'll run. If there are Death-Eaters at the Ministry, I can help. I can tell them some story. They'll believe me," Draco said.

"Why would _you_ want to turn against the Death-Eaters," Ron asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Because the want to kill all Muggle-borns."

"_What_?" Ron shook his head hard. "That can't be true. I'm getting the Veritaserum."

...

Moaning Myrtle was nowhere to be found this night, so they used her bathroom. Evreyone was breathing hard from running madly through the halls. "Drink all of it," Ron thrust the vial of Veritaserum at Draco, who took it and swallowed it all in one gulp. "So, how do you _really_ feel about Hermione?"

Draco's smile was nearly blinding. "I love her. More than I thought was ever possible. I would give up my life for her. I want to hold her, and kiss her, and take off all of her clo-"

"_That's enough_." Ron clutched his head. "I-I think I believe you. And-and the Death-Eaters really want to kill all Muggle-Borns?"

Draco nodded. "Right now, they're making up lists of names. And Hermione-Hermione..."

Harry went pale. Ginny gasped. Ron flinched as if he'd been dealt a physical blow.

"I'm going to the Ministry right now." Harry moved toward the door.

"But how will we get there?" Ron asked.

"I have an idea," Harry said.

...

Luna guided Hermione and Draco to a Thestral. "This is her neck right here. Touch her. It's all right." Hermione put her hand out and felt the mane. It was softer then she expected. Running her hand down, she located where the wings came out of the spectral horse's back. "Give me a leg up?" she asked Draco. He crouched down and crossed his hands; she put her right foot in his hands, braced a hand on his shoulder, and swung her left leg up and over, settling just behind the wing joint.

Draco just stood there staring at her. "What is it?" she asked, feeling self-conscious.

He shook his head. "I can't believe how brave you are. You climbed right on without a moment's hesitation."

The Hermione of just a couple of months ago probably would have been a lot more timid. The things she'd been through lately had changed her. "Are you going to come up, Draco?"

He puffed his cheeks out. "I guess so. I can't say I'm thrilled about trusting my life to something invisible, but here goes." He took the hand Hermione offered and pulled himself up on the Thestral behind her.

"Ready?" she asked him.

Draco laughed. "No. But let's go." He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. As the Thestral flapped its great, invisible wings, creating a wind that tangled their hair together, he kept laughing. Hermione understood.

Their Thestral was right behind the one Harry was riding. Hogwarts shrank beneath them until it looked like a picture on a postcard. Dusk was falling, and lights were coming on in the castle and in the villages. A flock of fairies swirled around them; Hermione could see the stained-glass colors of their wings when they passed in front of the moon. She could feel the moment's significance thrumming through her. Nothing would ever be the same after tonight.


	18. Chapter 18

This is a teaser for "Hermione's Shield," which is the continuation of "Hermione's Web."

The first chapter of "Hermione's Shield" is up on this site-just go to my profile to find it.

...

Draco pushed Hermione behind him as Lucius raised his wand, snarling. "Get out of the way, boy. Do you understand what this _mudblood _has done?"

Draco raised his wand to his father.

"Malfoy, where are you?" someone called.

"_Get out of the way_, _Draco_." Lucius' quiet rage was spine-chilling.

"Put your arms around me, Hermione." Wand hand shaking, Draco moved so he and Hermione's faces were close together. "Leave now, Father, or I'll call them in, and everyone will know that your son is a traitor with a mudblood lover." He kissed Hermione on the cheek.

"You stupid, foolish child," Lucius hissed.


End file.
